The Counter Guardians
by The Reader of Words
Summary: Possible Nasuverse AU. EMIYA isn't the only Counter Guardian, just the first for a long, long time. The other five happened quite by accident. Unlike him, though, they never gave up, despite thousands of years beside him. Even though it was due to him they were there, they were determined to get free. All six of them. Rating may go up. Warnings inside. May be heavily revised
1. Dangerous Boredom

**Authoress Speaking, here. This is not, by any means, the first story I've written. It is, however, the first I've posted. So, if anyone sees anywhere that can be improved, or spelling mistakes (because spell check seems to have it out for me right now), and suchlike, I'd appriciate it. Constructive Critique is welcomed. Flames are not, and will be used to burn Young!Naruto's orange jumpsuits(the black and orange one he got during the timeskip looks much better, doyouagree?). Thank you. And please, whatever you have to say(mostly), review, review, review. It feeds my currently deceased confidence, and they will help to revive it.**

**WARNING(S): This story will have swearing. It will have yaoi, which for those who don't know is boyxboy love, of the sideways tango variety, which is to say intimate relations of the sexual kind. If this offends your delicate sensibilities, at some corner of your browser is a nifty thing called a back button. You're welcome to it. There is also the possibility of a threesome, between who I've yet to decide. I'm not terribly up to date on recent happenings in the Naruto manga, because the bit where it got to Uchiha Drama was simultaneously boring me to tears and ticking me off. I've barely watched Fate/Stay Night, and most of my knowledge comes from TV Tropes. So there's that . . . Oh, Jiraiya's, Kushina's, and Naruto's perversions and attempts to corrupt EMIYA, Minato's much more subtle and dignified perversions (I don't buy he got away from 5+ years being taught by _Jiraiya_ completely unscathed), and . . . Ah! I've not been able to find a credible, hard-fact source of info on Counter Guardians, most of what I know comes from a mixture of lurking in Beast's Lair, TV Tropes, and guesswork, so any corrections on that backed up by credible fact are welcome. I do believe that's it. Does all this fit under a T rating, or do I need to bump it up a notch?**

**Onwards, my fellow Readers! Onwards, to the glory that is the written word! Witness, the majesty that was begotten from-*the Story cuts it's Authoress off, eager to be known.* **

~O~O~O~

He didn't know how long it'd been. One decade, he'd gotten bored enough he'd have slit his own wrists just for something to do and, for that it would do anything but make a mess he'd later clean up, he'd been sorely tempted any way. He was that bored. Just for something, anything, to do, he decided to find out just how old he was. It was hard to tell.

After all, he was the only magus in all the infinite worlds of the kaleidoscope that had been ignorant and stupid enough to swear himself to Alaya. Which meant he wasn't _a_ Counter Guardian, he was _the_ Counter Guardian. All those worlds, it wasn't just an endless slaughter, it was the _same_ endless slaughter, and for all the repitions, he'd never been able, never had the control, to do a damn thing different. That, more than it happening in the first place was why he'd given up. Really, why bother when he couldn't do anything?

All of which was him getting off track. His age. Endless slaughter or no, humanity had existed for quite some time. He wasn't sure how long, but the earliest he'd been called, as far as he could tell, humanity had barely evolved enough to be aware of itself. That time, he'd actually been helping the humans, because that was what they Willed. And what Humanity Willed, Alaya saw accomplished. No matter the when or how. Or the cost to him.

So, that time he'd gotten bored, he'd actually spent that decade counting and, once he'd reached a conclusion, recounting, his age. He'd done it a few hundred times by the end of that memorable ten years, and was reasonably sure he was around one million years old. That much, he was certain of, because he'd never gotten a number lower than that, so that was bare minimum. He'd gotten between that and three million each time, so his age was somewhere in between.

"Huh", he'd exhaled sardonically, the smirk that never failed to piss off Rin on his bronzed face, " I must be the oldest codger in existence."

For something to do, just to pass his eternity as Alaya's slave, he'd tried to keep track of his age. He'd been able to tack on another thousand years since that decade. So his minimum was now one million, one hundred thousand. Not that anyone would care. And he wouldn't let anyone. Hell though it was, he literally would not wish it on even his worst enemy, so it just being him was a blessing, hoever unintended on Alaya's part.

It was a whirring sound, like a windmill thwiping in the breeze, but more . . . concentrated, that broke his contemplations. He looked up, in the sectioned off area of the Throne of Heroes that Alaya had made to be his room in between summons, and saw what was unmistakably a portal, blue in color, swirling like a whirlpool in the air.

"If this is some type of summons," he murmured aloud, aware talking to oneself was the first sign of insanity and ignoring that fact, "it is the oddest I've seen."

The portal evidently heard him, because it'd apparently gotten impatient waiting, zipped over and snatched him up before he could so much as twitch. And, cliché though it was, everything did indeed go black.

~O~O~O~

**Review, review, review. Please? *Story looks at you, wishing to know how it was***


	2. The Seduction of a to-be Married Couple

**Hello, my dear Readers, welcome to the second chapter. I wasn't going to put this here for another few days, but patience has never been my strong suit. So, first things first. **

**Thanks to ****A Certain Random Guy**** and ****Tensa-Zangetsu102**** for reviewing. To my favorite-ers and followers, you know who you are, and thanks. I hope more people find this story good enough to review/fav/follow it, too. I'll also be doing something I've seen a few times, answering reviews in the next chapter. I just wanna try it out.**

**Warnings in previous chapter, but I'm gonna say this again, if I didn't before. Boyxboy love, though not explicit(I don't trust my ability to make it realistic, and it not being so would offend my Inner Perfectionist), likely threesome, various obvious and subtle perversions, (hopefully grammatically correct) profanity. **

**Also, to anyone reading who has concerns, I have basic plot figured out and written down, crudely. The beginning and middle, I've got, it's the end that's giving me trouble. Eh, I'll hold a pole/vote thingy for that eventually. Que sera sera, and all that. **

**And please, ****_please, _****_please_****, if there are any spelling errors, or areas where grammar doesn't make sense, tell me. I will correct it posthaste. **

**Disclaimer: I don't believe I did this before, and I've always wanted to. So. *ahem* (insert clever witticism about not owning anything but the plot here). Did I do it right? *Story rolls it's eyes at the Authoress' silliness, and proceeds.**

"Normal, out loud, everyone can hear it speaking is like this."

_'CG!EMIYA is like this.'_

_"The normal thoughts that chase each other in people's noggins is like this."_

~O~O~O~

_**Academy Graduation, age 12**_

Uzumaki Kushina was, contrary to what most her Academy class would believe, not stupid. Hyper, yes, short attentions span, affirmative, occasionally slow on the uptake, also true. Stupid was not on that list.

Heading back to the apartment she had, where there was no one. It was late at night, the twilight hours, and no one was about.

Kushina couldn't help thinking about it,(_dayin, dayout, alwaysthere,_) about all she'd lost -people here had lost loved ones, yes, but they hadn't lost _their entire village_, they still had somewhere to go home to, and she did not appreciate the insinuation they were at all equivalent, nor the pitying looks she got when someone else heard about it- when she hit what those with knowledge of depression mostly all termed a downward spiral. As she thought about her fallen village, her ruined country, her slaughtered and scattered clan, she thirsted, so strongly it physically _hurt, _for vengeance. Revenge on those who'd attacked her village, destroyed her country, hunted her clan, (_leftherwiththeterribleburningache, shewasalone, nonono, whyherclan, whycouldn'tshe_fight_ddamnitall, whycouldn'tshedoanything_). Revenge on her _enemies_.

The more she thought of it, the more she thought she heard a pounding in her head, beats in a steady rhythm, in time with her heart beat. A hammer striking an anvil in a blacksmith's forge, the singing of a thousand blades who all wished to be wielded by a master. Her breath sped up, with the beating drums, the promise of battle, a song of blood and death old as the human race. Kushina knew that song, in feeling if not the name, felt the, no doubt disturbing to onlookers -there were none-, grin on her face, and did not mind it.

And a voice, male and deep with it, in time with the steady, beating drums (_what _were_ they?_) spoke to her, '_do you wish for this power, the power to rain ruin down on those who've desecrated your homeland? No matter the cost to you, whatever it may be, you'll pay it?"_

Damn her though it might, Kushina replied back, as strongly as she could, as fiercely as she was capable of,_ "YES. TO ALL OF IT." _

She thought she heard the voice sigh, saying faintly, sounding heavy with a regret she didn't understand, _'I'm sorry.'_

In the back of her mind, she instinctively recognized the steady beat. They were the Drums of War.

~O~O~O~

_**Two Years Later, age**_** 14**

Despite the many praises of the Academy teachers, and what his own jonin sensei thought, Namikaze Minato knew he wasn't really anything special. Save for his freakish speed and Fuinjutsu genius, he was average all across the board. And, not being a all-rounder genius but still clever in his own right, he thought, he took shameless advantage of those two things and made himself an indispensable asset to the village. The Niidaime Hokage had had the idea first, yes, but Minato had found that diamond in the rough and really made it shine. Or Flash, rather.

Yeah, great Fuinjutsu master he was. He was a goddamned idiot. Going as fast as he did, the first time he used Hiraishin, he'd nearly killed himself. As it was, he'd lain in that training ground, trying not to shake apart from sheer terror and getting his breath back, going over the formula, wondering what he missed, when it hit him hard enough he almost considered a trip to the hospital. He was a mere mortal man -boy, whatever- and he was trying to use a technique he'd termed _Flying Thunder God_, on account of the truly stupefying amount of speed, without protecting his body in any way. He was lucky he hadn't ripped himself apart! That wasn't all, either, he couldn't see a damn thing, his reaction time was horrible, it was a disaster!

_But what do I do?_' Minato thought in rare frustration. _'I can't enhance my body with seals, that'd kill me faster than this jutsu. I can't just speed up myself to perceive that all, I, I need . . . argh, I don't know what I need!'_

He continued in that same vein for a while, chasing his own thought, and managing to figure several thing out. One, he needed a way to strengthen his body. Two, a way to speed up his reactions time so he could actually k-kill the enemy. Three, a way to know what was going on around him at all times. Oh, and four. All of that would be impossible before the village was overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of the enemy, and he was completely screwed.

"Ragh!", he growled at himself, flopping over to his stomach to stare balefully at the seal-covered kunai in front of him. "It's not impossible, I just haven't found a way to do it yet." But his thoughts said something else entirely. _'Please, someone, anyone . . . help.'_

As those thoughts chased each other in his head, and he found himself unable to come to a solution, and it seemed so hopeless, he noticed it. A pounding in his head that wasn't a headache. He sat up, wary but attentive. A steady, beating rhythm, he could feel it next to his breastbone, beating in time with his heart. Distantly, a hammer striking an anvil could be heard, a sense of uncounted singing blades, all ready to kill, rip, tear, maim. His breath sped up as the ancient song of death, blood and battle sang through his veins.

_"The Warrior's Joy,"_ Minato frowned as it occurred to him. He'd read about it, in a dusty old book, forgotten in a corner of the Shinobi Library. Not just shinobi, anyone with blood in their veins who fought could become drunk with it, intoxicated with battle and bloodshed. It was one of the reasons why Kiri had such a bloody reputation. _"But why now . . . ?"_

And a voice echoed in his mind, a man's low voice, _'do you wish for the strength to use this ability? The ability to be a literal flash, the very last thing your enemies see? The ability to not just bring armies to a standstill, but to crush them?'_

Minato wanted to say no. Was going to, even. He had no idea where this voice was coming from, had no idea who he was, or if he could even follow through on his words. The Warrior's Joy coursing through him made it hard to think, the bewitching song of battle weaving an entrancing melody he found hard to ignore, but do all that he did. And his refusal was about to sound, hard and final, when the voice spoke again, slowly, almost unwilling.

_'Would you not pay any price, to protect this village that you love?'_ The voice sounded heavy with an ineffable regret. Like it was urging him to resist his temptations. But the tone was ignored for the words, because that was actually the one thing he'd willfully damn himself for, sell his soul for, literally stroll into hell itself for. This village that he loved.

_". . . Yes. To all of it."_ Minato's thought seemed flat and dull, heavy with resignation. Solid with determination.

The voice sounded one more time, weighty not just with that mysterious regret, but also horrible, terrible understanding. _'I'm sorry.'_

The Joy faded to a almost unnoticeable thing, in the back of his mind, and the drumbeats softened to his regular heart beat. Though he know it wasn't smart at all, and he'd likely just damned himself more then he thought possible, Minato couldn't help the grim smile that crossed his face.

~O~O~O~

_**Time Indeterminate**_

_He hadn't wanted to. Tried to force himself not to, even. But just as he could not stop himself from killing when summoned, he could also not stop himself from whispering those words, those damnably seductive words. _

_The girl didn't even hesitate. She hadn't needed much persuasion, the Warrior's Joy singing to her fiery, fierce spirit, the War Drums a beat she'd dance to gladly. Damn herself willingly for her vengeance, and call most any price cheap. Would she call it cheap when she found out the price, he wondered, when she joined him in Endless Slaughter?_

_The boy had nearly refused. He resisted the Joy, ignored the Drums. He'd felt a flare of -doomed, of course- hope when he felt the refusal, that this relatively innocent person would not join his hellish eternity. Then, the words came once more, the boy agreed, and the Counter Guardian felt he could not possibly hate himself more than that moment. _

_As had happened many, many times before, he found himself eating those words. The Beast sealed in the girl, now a woman, released on unwilling, mindless rampage. The boy, now a man, forced into yet another corner tried to sacrifice his soul -that technique didn't actually require a soul, just the soul-energy, and the avatar of death got more than enough of that due to the mass death happening, and the man couldn't, his previous agreement with_ him_ counted as prior claim that Death's Avatar could not break._-_ and when they both died found themselves there with him, though he went unnoticed, looking on helplessly, as their son grew, hated and alone. _

_As he grew, and slowly, so slowly, he gained the acknowledgement he should've had the day he was born onwards, into a young man the woman -Kushina- teared up over and the man -Minato- beamed proudly at as the years passed, and EMIYA watched, knowing this was not done yet. There would be more. And, yet still, he hated it._

~O~O~O~

**I was going to spread all this out over more chapters, one to each of the five, and if three people ask, I'll do that, but I figured, why not try this. I figured I'd do these two now, though, and give you a bit of EMIYA. This is it for a bit, though. I hope. I really am too impatient. **

**Was this one better? Was it worse? Too wordy? Not wordy enough? Was it creepy? Too much angst? Review, and tell me. **

**TELL ME, DAMN IT! I MUST ****_KNOOOOOOOW! _*****Story shoves the Authoress into her room, to get some sleep. It turns to you, wanting to know how it was***


	3. Meeting At Last

**Hello, my fellow Readers. I really must learn patience and how to keep the audience guessing, because here's another chapter, in less than a week. New goal is to space it out over a week's time. We'll see how long ****_that_**** lasts. **

**Cordia: Thank you, not just for reviewing, but for encouraging me to get started in the first place. The reason the last bit in the previous chapter was italicized is due to it taking place . . . well, outside the perceptions of a normal person, even a shinobi person. Like, guardian angels looking on, that sort of thing. Does that make sense?**

**If anyone sees any spelling mistakes, please tell me. They will be corrected by the posting of the next chapter, whenever that will be. Thank you.**

**Anyway. On with it, slave!**

***Story bows its head mockingly at the Authoress, and gets to work***

~O~O~O~

**_During Jiraiya's Fight With_**** Pein**

He was powerful. Jiraiya knew that. He also knew that, no matter how much he took care of himself, he was getting older. He still didn't think he'd be losing the fight quite so badly.

Having taken a blow to the head, his hearing was out. So he was wondering why he could still hear. No, that wasn't it. Why, with busted ears, could he hear anything, never mind something as strange to hear during a shinobi battle as drums? Panting with exertion, Jiraiya disengaged Naga-no, he was Pein now, jumping back a ways. His old student, in his god complex-induced arrogance, didn't pursue.

Jiraiya spared a moment to the odd drums -pounding, pounding, pounding, in time with his fast-beating heart, making his blood pump faster - before noticing something else. The rushing blood, the pounding drums -Drums of War, aren't they just a myth? - how he was actually beginning to have _fun_ in what in a fight that really should be tearing his heart apart. Not just the Drums. Warrior's Joy. He'd experienced it a few times before, most memorably the one-sided slaughter, not in their favor, when he Orochimaru, and Tsunade went up against Hanzo the Salamander. Was Na-Pein really pushing him that hard, or was he just that out of the game? No matter, really. A bad, if helpful, sign either way.

Just as he was about to re-engage his obviously-in-need-of-a-fight-with-Naruto old student (_old, not ex, because I've still got things to teach you_) the world around him went grey-scale, and he couldn't move. Panic was about to set in when a voice, male and about as deep as his, spoke. _'you will not even live very long, at this rate. Do you wish for power, that you might live long enough to warn you allies, comrades and godson?'_

_"What the hell are you." _It was a demand, rather than a question. Jiraiya hadn't lived as long as he had by being stupid, no matter what Orochimaru thought.

_'What I am matters not. What I can do, however, is make you briefly the equal of you old student. It will not last long, and the price will be a steep one. Regardless of anything you do, this is a battle you will not win. With my aid, however, you will be able to warn your godson and those who stand with him.'_

_". . . Yes. To all of it." _Jiraiya didn't really know what to expect, but the washing away of all his aches and pains was a good approximation to the feeling he had. He felt . . . younger, almost, though he knew nothing had really changed in the scant few seconds the exchange had taken. He was still dead. He didn't even have a fighting chance. As the world gained color again, he heard one last time,

_'I'm sorry'_ was the man's only words. And he really sounded like it, with the heaviness that indicated there was much, much more to that than was said.

Jiraiya wasn't. He'd be able to warn them about N-Pein, they'd be prepared instead of completely blindsided. That was worth it, in his opinion.

_Dying didn't really hurt. Was like falling asleep, almost, if not for the massive amount of pain he'd been in. Still, the voice had made good on his promise. Time for him to pay his dues._

_Except, it look like he'd get a break first. Several breaks, actually, judging by the magnificent scowl Kushina was sending him, along with the bring-your-brown-pants glare. That was all well and good, really, he'd pissed her off before. No, it was the calm, polite smile on Minato's tanned face sending chills chasing each other up and down his spine. He'd had that smile aimed at him the one and only time he'd peeped on Kushina. He'd only peeped once for a _reason.

_He held his hands up, realizing in this not-life-not-death there really was no sound, and so tried to settle for looking pathetically cute, you-don't-want-to-hurt-me,-really and likely only succeeding in the former. Because the cold, hard blue of his most successful -for now, the brat was working on it- student promised far more than a stern lecture. _

_He gulped. They pounced. _

_EMIYA watched, amused as much as he could be, as the parents tore the godparent to metaphorical, then literal shreds upon discovering they reformed here. _

_Eternity might be hellish when this was done with. But, maybe not being alone for it would make it a little more bearable._

_It was too soon to hope._

~O~O~O~

_**Battle With Kaguya**_

Naruto was very carefully not panicking. Only he and Sasuke (_finally, he's back, took the stubborn bastard long enough, and he calls me a loser_) had chakra, the obviously unstable woman who had the power of eight out of nine Tailed-Beasts and the body of the Ten-Tails besides, along with all the chakra from all the Kage, Jonin Chuunin, Genin and assorted nin in the Nation save him and Sasuke, was beating him them both around like a cat who'd found a yarn ball, smelled catnip inside, and wasn't too fussed on the state the ball would be in when it got its treat.

Stoic bastard that he was, Naruto had been around several by this point and could read him plain as day. Sasuke was also very carefully not panicking.

They couldn't defeat her. It wasn't a matter of finding the strength within oneself, finding that one right way out of the plethora of wrong ones. They simply could not, were incapable, of defeating her. She couldn't take their chakra. She was simply incapable of it. An impasse, as it were.

They needed help, and there was no one. They needed a trump, and they'd used all they had.

They needed a miracle.

Hearts already pounding with the rush of life-on-the-line fighting, the striking of a hammer on an anvil didn't seem all that out of place to Naruto, though Sasuke looked around for the source. No one else did. Shared hallucination? Possible, but unlikely.

And the world went grey-scale. They were still colored, as well as an area around them. A hand against it- a wall, solid, yeah, they couldn't leave that area.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked quietly, the unspoken 'what the hell is this, do you know?' heard clearly.

"Time-space technique. Gotta be. Fine control, too." Was all Naruto said. He knew enough weird shit to identify it. Getting rid of it was out of the question. They might unravel Time Itself, which was a very bad thing. Unless you could control _that_, but the amount of time needed to do so made it impossible.

Then, out of nowhere -because there was no one who could've said it, Sasuke was always quiet and Kurama was, like them, very carefully not panicking - a man's voice sounded, _'would you like the power to stop her? Match her, and defeat her?'_

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, catching his dark grey gaze with his own lighter blue. It would be nice. But-

_'Would you pay any price, no matter how steep, to take her down?'_ And there was the catch.

A held gaze. They knew each other well enough that words weren't needed. They didn't even need to talk about it.

"Yes. To all of it." They said. And no matter what followed, they would not, _could_ not, regret it.

_'I'm sorry'_ whiled the man who was helping them very much could, and very much did. That, and so much more.

_Match and defeat the mad almost-goddess they did. However, what they didn't take into account was that the power to do that would, like as not, ravage the world around them. Match and defeat her they did, not easily and very messily, and the world suffered for it. Their battle raged for days, none of them knew how long, but they won. And there was no prize to be had._

_They also hadn't taken into account what the power to match an almost-goddess would do to their puny, mortal bodies. When all was said and done, and they stood to look on a devastated world bereft of almost all life, they felt mourning. Sad, at the waste. And their bodies gave out on them, because no mortal can withstand the might of a near-deity for days unscathed. _

_What they found was surprising. Naruto first saw, and therefore first tackled, Jiraiya, who was bowled over easily by his grief-stricken godson. Sasuke was staring at the Yondaime in utter bewilderment, and was thus unprepared when the red-haired woman wrapped him in a startlingly maternal hug._

_Naruto then saw his father -whose identity still simultaneously boggled and not-surprised Sasuke (because it's Naruto) - and dragged his bedraggled godfather over into a bigger hug. Then saw his mother - who apparently was good friends with Sasuke's mother, which was all kinds of I-sort-of-expected-that-after-everything-else and this-is getting-ridiculous - and initiated a group hug. _

_Sasuke was not amused. The red head - Kushina, he vaguely recalled - was._

_Which is when they _all_ noticed the white haired, dark skinned man with grey eyes, dressed all in reds and blacks, who was standing there like he'd been there for some time._

_All of them, perhaps instinctively, knew he was the one who'd reached out and aided them. They stood straight before him, waiting for what he would ask. _

_But he only smiled sadly - heavy with the regret they'd all heard in his voice - and turned-_

_to the swirling blue whirlpool in the air, that expanded and-_

_even if it could be heard, none of them would've had time to scream before it was upon them._

~O~O~O~

_**Heroes' Throne, Counter Guardians **__**Quarters**_

As they looked around their destination - the whirlpool thingy having obviously been a portal of some kind - they all, once again, lay eyes on their mysterious helper.

"So, who are you, anyway?" Naruto piped up, looking like an eager puppy. Minato smiled, Kushina and Jiraiya grinned, and Sasuke rolled his eyes and smirked.

The man only looked at them moment, then said. "My name is EMIYA." The capitalization was literally audible. "Welcome to my personal hell."

Simultaneous blink. And "What do you-?" Minato began to ask, eyes narrowing, before he was interrupted and their attention drawn to the glowing woman-figure who hadn't been there a second before.

_"__Don't Mind My Servant. He's Overdramatic__."_

They didn't hear her voice, so much as feel it. And, somehow, understand it.

The white-haired man in red spoke one word, heavy with something other than the regret they'd all heard.

Heavy with unadulterated _loathing_.

"Alaya."

~O~O~O~

**Well, that's that done. How's my first cliffy? Like it? Hate it? That strange, frustrating combination of both that makes you want to yank the author through the reading device so they can finish it, because suspense like that is really unfair? Review, and tell me! **

***Story looks out at you, wishing to know.***


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